


Bitten

by Carter_Vincent



Category: South Park
Genre: #Zombie AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2015-08-26
Packaged: 2018-04-17 07:24:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4657737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carter_Vincent/pseuds/Carter_Vincent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would you do if you woke up one morning and your town was being kidnapped by the government? Well, Kenny does the only thing he can think of. He takes Karen and runs to the only person he knows can help. That person happens to be his mercenary boyfriend of course. Could you survive when the only people left seemingly anywhere are your boyfriend and little sister? And obviously the thousands of zombies trying to eat you.<br/>Please note, this story has been discontinued and is no longer being updated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction was actually a role play my ex girlfriend, Bri, and I had. She rped Christophe and me Kenny. The first couple works I'll be posting on here are rps with her (unless it doesn't say so). We only got to finish the first chapter and half of the second or so before stuff happened and we stopped speaking. Also, because some of the parts, she wrote, I didn't edit them like I do my own so there's a good few misspelled or simply misused words, sometimes a few off punctuation and the like. 
> 
> (Translations in the end notes)

Kenny woke up by his parents shouting. As always. Wait, no, this was different. Something about hurrying? He sat up and went out into the living room, not caring that he was naked. Kevin was out on the front step, staring with huge eyes while their parents ran around with suitcases. Kenny walked over and looked outside as well, his own eyes widening. Tanks. Soldiers. Armoured cars. The military was in their town. Soldiers were going into people's houses and pulling them out. Kenny watched as it happened to the Broflovski's right across the train tracks. Without a further thought, Kenny ran back to his room, threw on pants and his parka and grabbed his boots, throwing them on and blindly tying them. He ran to Karin's room and told her they were leaving. Before she could question it, he told her that their parents said for them to leave out the back window. Kenny put on her shoes for her then threw her jacket on and her window open.  
After heaving her out then himself, Kenny picked her up, and ran into the back, hurrying through yards. It took a lot of allies, stops, and time but Kenny managed to get to the only house that had someone who knew what to do in this situation. Kenny threw Christophe's back door open and hurried in. "Christophe! Are you still here?" He shouted, sitting Karin down on the counter in the kitchen then hurried upstairs and into Christophe's bedroom. "Chris!" He was panicking now and didn't even know why, honestly. Christophe was in his room, that helped a bit of the panic but not a lot.

He knew this bull shit was coming. Call it a guy feeling maybe, or just a keen eye for the signs floating around in the media but the country was falling apart. And he should of been out of here a lot sooner then stuffing things it is last minute duffle bag. "Nom de Dieu." he grunted, growing still as the lights from growling vehicles light up his room briefly while they passed along. Luckily his house appeared vacant so they passed over it rather quickly. Clenching his teeth he got on his knees to avoid detection and continued packing. It didn't mean they wouldn't sniff around anyways. "Nom de Dieu, c’est fou." he seethed, popping the magazine into place with a click. He took aim at his own bedroom wall with the gun. Squinting an eye closed he peered down it's silver muzzle. Satisfied that all was well, Christophe tucked the weapon away into the back of his heavy cargo pants. Letting the cool metal rest faithfully against his skin. He went through the same steps with ever other lethal tool in his arsenal. Taking the time to check their value before weighing his options and coming to a decision. By the time he got around to pushing down the items in his buldging bag Mole had successfully stashed; Two hunting knives, one withen each boot. A single gun and an impressive stash of ammo for it.. his freshly sharpened shovel and he planned of shoving the hammer from down stairs into his belt loop to. Just encase..the teen had secured a length of rope across his chest. Along side a thick belt carrying pockets full of small tools or useful items. His hands were adorned with his fighting gloves, padded at the knuckles to make a world of hurt for those on the reviving end. All and all he was confident he was armed to the teeth.  
And why wouldn't you be?  
This fucking place had turned into a war zone! Jerking the zipper closed Christophe slung the back across his shoulders. Looping it over his head so he could keep his hands free. As he turned to stalk towards his bedroom door, giving things a final once over there was a crash downstairs. He flenched, had they found him? Stepping back he stared out his window but the road out front was empty right now? "Ohn.." the brunet grunted, it was /him/. So he'd gotten out undetected ~ no sooner had the blonde boy stepped into his cluttered room was Chris pushing him back out and down the hallway. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?!" He practically shouted, quickly following the Frenchie. "The fucking military is taking our town apart! Not that you haven't noticed. Gee, glad I got here when I did, you probably would have left without even checking me." In all honesty, Kenny wasn't sure if that was true or not. He hoped Christophe would at least make an attempt to check on Kenny but he wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. "Oh." A thought popped into his head as they reached downstairs. "I brought someone with me..." Now that Kenny thought about it, Christophe had never even seen his house, let alone his family.  
He pushed past Christophe once they were in the living room and went to the kitchen. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked in a calm voice, smiling at the young child on the counter. She nodded her head and reached out her arms, which Kenny instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her off the counter and onto his hip. He walked back to Christophe, raising his eyebrows. "Chris, this is my little sister, Karen. Karen," she looked up at Christophe, smiling a bit, "This is my boyfriend, Christophe." She looked at Kenny and questioned the 'boyfriend', which Kenny simply explained meant they were closer than friends but not family. He looked back at Christophe, looking serious again, "But in all seriousness, we need to leave. Now preferably."

Christophe jut his jaw with a scowl at the volume of the others voice. It only encouraged him to pick up his pace, more then confident that Kenny was following he took to the stairs with loud thumps from his heavy boots. "Now that you know stop bring so damn obvious about it! You'll draw attention to us." he pointed out, bypassing the last step entirely. "I trusted your impeccable timing to do the checking for me. If I would have left for /your/ place it would of turned into a goose chase." he grunted. Considering they were both smart enough to take the scenic route to their destinations it was highly possible that he might now have crossed Kenny's path. Then they'd be in a panic..more so then now, and ended the night being bearded off like the rest of the town. He was curious about that. What exactly had the military of all things sifting through people's houses?! "Oh?" it was a disgruntled souf as Kenny shoved by to retrieve said person.  
He followed, if only to make a bee line for the junk drawer at the end of the counters. Sliding it open slowly to retrieve said trusty hammer. He stuffed it into his left sided loop quietly while his amour spoke in a gentle tone. A quick glance told him with was a youngster. A doe eyed little thing that looked out of place in her brothers arms in the middle of a mucky house surround by sirens and flashing lights. It couldn't be helped though. A string of compassion was extended to that timid smile. Leaving her would be cruel..no matter how many pros were stacked in said ideas favor. "bonjour petit." he hummed finally, ducking his head shortly to her before slipping past to peer out the nearest window. Squinting he waited..and frowned. They were hitting tr homes across the street. "Agreed, - " he started, pacing back to the two of them. He put a firm hand on Kenny's shoulder to urge him along. Nodding his chin at the back door. "But that way, or they'll see us leave."

Kenny smiled softly and whispered the translation in Karen's ear. She giggled and grinned at Christophe, "Hello~" She greeted brightly. "Kenny," She turned in his arms to look at him again, "His sink works." Kenny looked down at her with a blank expression, glanced at Christophe for a moment, then turned and walked into the kitchen. He set her back on the counter and turned on the sink then turned it back off. It wasn't surprising to Kenny, he knew the sink worked. All the water worked in the house. He'd taken showers there before in fact, it was nice.  
"Yes it does, Karen." He said simply then picked her back up, smiling warmly. "I bet it even gets warm if we leave it on for a minute. The heater works here too." Her face was as bright as a Christmas tree as she scurried out of his arms and hurried over to the living room's radiator and placed her hands on it. She stepped back then turned and grinned at Chris. Kenny walked over to her and picked her back up, "Careful, heaters can burn you. Don't touch it to much." She giggled and nodded her head.

He nodded briefly to the little one in response, as to not upset the happy quirk she had. Was Karen even aware of what exactly was going on or did she just trust her brother's judgement that much? As they talked amongst themselves, shuffling back into the kitchen he vaguely wondered if..something like this was normal. Non, not the armored tanks and yelling people outside peppering each other with led. But the whole sudden 'uprooting' so to speak. She didn't seem bothered at all by it. Muttering out curses and curiosities Christophe turned all the locks on his front door. It'd slow them down at least, give then a few extra seconds. That in mind he thumped down the hallway to a closest. Pulling it open and sifting through the clutter there to pull out a blue an grey quilt. This would do.  
As he walked back into the living room, unfolding it's length with a few jerks he paused to watch the two of them interact. There was something off about the way they spoke. Had she never seen a simple heating machine? Odd.. "Oui..a pleasant sort of burn though." he sighed. Offering an awkward sort of smirk when she turned her bright attention towards him. How long would they be able to keep her from getting corrupted with the dirt of the outside world huh? If he was lucky and try snuck off into the tree line without incident..maybe a few days. Shaking his head and readopting his ever present scowl Mole tossed the blanket over the blondes head. "Orange is to fucking bright right now so use this when we leave. They're occupied with the houses across the way..so it'd be wise to go." he urged, growing anxious about staying still for do long.

Kenny felt embarrassed by Karen but wasn't going to yell at her. He actually just couldn't yell at her. He opened his mouth to point something out but suddenly had a quilt being thrown on him and his sister. He used his hand to push at it for a moment, "I agree but hold on." He set Karen on her feet, dropping the blanket on the ground, then knelt down so he was eye level with Karen. He locked blue with blue, resembling a father instead of a brother now. "Karen, we're going to leave, okay? The town isn't safe so we need to go." She was about to say something but he cut her off by putting his hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about Kevin, dad, and mama. They'll be fine. The government is taking them away with the rest of town but we can't go with them." Karen gave a small sniffle and began trembling. Kenny quickly wrapped his arms around her in a hug and stood back up, "Hey, hey, hey. It's gonna be okay. Your guardian angel is watching over us, remember? Nothing is going to happen." He bent down and picked the quilt back up. "Don't worry, Karen. Everything's fine, I promise. Have I ever lied to you?" Karen nodded. "What? Okay, that /one/ time I lied to you that we weren't going to move again but you know what? We've lived in that shithole for a long time now and you know what?" She leaned back to look at him, "We're going to moving a lot now, okay? But we're going to be in really cool places and far away from dad and mama's fighting." With a shy smile, Kenny decided it was okay to put her back down and throw the quilt back on. "Karen my arms are tired, you have to run with us for a bit, okay?" She nodded and took Kenny's hand. Kenny looked at Christophe and pointed toward the back door with his head. "Okay come on, let's go. They're going to-" He was cut off when someone began banging on the front door. Kenny swore and hurried out the door without the other's confirmation.

Obediently Christophe did wait, if not a impatiently so. The toe of his right crusted boot thudding on the hard wood in a repetitive 'tap..tap..tap' as the other shouldered away the quilt and crouched. Explaining firmly what was going to happen and why it was that way. He glanced away after a moment. Being taken away from a familiar setting was probably rough on her little mind. Especially when the rest of the McCormick clan weren't even around to encourage.  
The brunet crossed his arms. It had never been that way for him when he was young though. Christophe had all but learned how to stick up for himself. His mother was a two faced women who was far to paranoid and spiteful to have been a parent at all. Hell he was lucky to have even been born into this shit hole of a world..having been wounded before even coming out of the womb by /her/ hands. So making time to stay outside of his home had always been a natural thing. He'd never held any bonds to that place, her really. But these two? The wet look Karen gave the blonde was enough to concrete the fact that yes..they were attached. Despite the, bitter past that had Mole arching a brow in question when mentioned. He'd never told him about his home life. Why? It disturbed him a little..how many fights or how bad? He stared down a the floor while he thought over it. Useless because it was in past tense but still.  
He blinked from his stupor when the other turned towards him. Finally gesturing towards the back door. He shifted the clothe strap of his heavy bag against his shoulder. Of course no sooner had they turned on their feet were their fists thudding against the front door. "Fuck." he hissed, following Kenny along. Only he briskly walked backwards, a hand poised at his side just in case. Once he was past the kitchen threshold Mole turned and urged them out by waving his hands at him in a 'shooing' motion. "Quiet and quickly." he whispered roughly. They probably had about half a minute before the men at the door would realize the game and bust through to search for them.

Kenny and Karen both nodded at Christophe. Kenny opened the door and picked Karen up to run down the porch steps so she wouldn't fall but set her back down and firmly took her hand and took off in a brisk run. Thankfully Christophe lived just a row of houses from the woods, making it easy to at least get out sight pretty quick. Except for the fact that there was a lot of the military-fags at those houses too. Kenny stopped in the backyard of the house they were behind and went to the side, looking at the group of camo covered people and machines. "Shit..." He looked around, trying to look for somewhere that they could get too. Karen tightened her hand in Kenny's hand, making him look down at her and give a reassuring smile. He then turned and looked at Christophe, hoping he would know what to do at the moment. This was his life for god sakes, running from the military and hiding. That's what Christophe did.  
Why was this happening? It wasn't on the news at all, no one had seen anything about it. Wasn't that illegal? For the military to overrun a town without any reasoning and no warning? Seems like something that should be illegal at least. Kenny shook his head, emptying the questions from his head and looked forward again. There was a bang from Christophe's house. "I think they just broke your door, dude." He snorted slightly, giving Christophe a weary smile. He had that at least. His cocky personality that could make a joke out of anything. It worked on Karen at least because she let out a small giggle.

The Frenchman gave a single nod back, an encouragement for them to go first. A few seconds gone but the blonde was quick to scoop the girl up and pull the door open. As they both darted out into the yard Christophe peered over his shoulder briefly, glaring darkly at the equally gloomy looking house just to make sure no one was standing there...staring back. Nothing. Good. Huffing through his chapped lips the brunet left. Closing the door softly to avoid detection he bypassed the steps with a leap and scurried across the yard to huddle by Kenny. He met that blue gaze with surprising calm. This was normal. Being surround by people who had orders to dispose of or capture you like a damn dog. Gun fire, armored vehicles, slums and frightened faces didn't bother him anymore. In fact as his heart rate started to speed up with the leak of adrenaline to his system he only felt more ready. Prepared for what ever the hell would come next. Of course this time he had precious cargo to worry about. Again, nothing new to Mole but the weight of caring for these two was much greater. This /was/ his /boyfriend/ and Kenny's little sister after all.  
Delorne scowled, though the frown he wore upturned into a vixen like smirk. Karen was easily amused. "Damn bastards." he grunted, shaking his fist mildly to play it up even before standing. Checking the other back yards first. The coast was clear for the moment. A few men stood in the door way of the house next door but they looked preoccupied. The chance would have to be taken. "Ok. Hop the fence and we'll run for the tree line. Just..stay low." as he spoke he made grabby hands at Karen. "Come on, I'll pass you to Ken." once he was up and over that is.

Kenny smiled slightly when Christophe joked with Karen, finding it kinda cute. He obeyed the order and was up and over the fence faster than a raccoon being chased by a dog. Karen looked shyly up at Christophe but nodded her head and allowed him to pick her up and put her over the fence. Kenny gently took her and set her down beside him. Kenny was smart enough to know that he didn't have to wait for Christophe so took off to the trees. He did however wait for him there. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long, Tophe had long legs and was as fast as Kenny was (probably faster) so he was right behind them.  
Karen whimpered and Kenny was instantly in big brother mood again, that didn't stop him from starting to run though. "Karen, are you alright? Did Chris hurt you when he picked you up?" Kenny shot daggers at his boyfriend for a split second, "Is your foot okay?" Karen had hurt her foot the other day but was up and running around within a few hours so Kenny didn't think about it until now. Even though they were running through the woods, from the military, for god knows why, and Kenny was actually terrified, he managed to keep his voice low and calm.  
Karen ran right beside them, her hand in a death grip around Kenny's. "I'm okay, Kenny." She said in her soft voice, making Kenny smile a bit. "I'm just scared. What are those men doing to our town?"  
Kenny chewed his lip for a moment, glancing at Christophe again then forward. "I don't know." He said finally with a sigh. "Those guys are for the military, actually. They're taking our town somewhere...Probably for good reason..." He didn't know what else to say. Karen didn't say anything else, just continued to run, hand-in-hand with Kenny.

The motion had gone smoothly. Without question the blonde had hopped the fence and with a tender expression Christophe had easily scooped Karen up and passed her along to Ken. Once his hands had been free the brunet jumped and hauled himself over. Landing in a crouch. He nearly lost his balance standing due to the extra weight he was hauling on his back but he scrambled forwards. Running through the tracks in the snow the others had left in a stooped manner to avoid being seen. He didn't stop to check whether or not they had been notice until he was bobbing to a stop by McCormick. From here the men's voices were muffled out by distance. But it didn't sound or look like they were in a frenzy which was a relief. It meant that he wouldn't have to sling his weight around in a physical struggle. Christophe was able to hold his own, had been forced to in the past to survive even. Against people who were twice as large as his own nimble build and dirty sucker punchers. But that had been in a thuggish setting. These guys were army trained and equip with the technology to back up their uniforms intimidating factor. If it came down to it he could probably over take one or two at a time..but how far could a hand gun go against an enemy that wore a bullet proof vest?  
The crunch of snow pulled him from his paranoia and he was quick to follow after Kenny. "Screw off, I did not." he seethed evenly, scoffing at the accusation while keeping pace just behind the boy and to the left. I was gentle. /Gentle/. He wanted to argue but didn't put in the effort to when Karen decided she was alright. 

What were the military planning on doing with everyone they rounded up? Where were they going, what was the purpose? Were those people going to be safe? Taken care of? He had a few ideas, theories but not a thing was said when Kenny looked back at him for answers. He'd rather not babble about the details in front of a child. An emotionally fragile ticking time bomb.  
Once they were a safe distance from the town, Karen asked if they could walk. Kenny agreed and slowed down, stuffing his free hand in his pocket. After several hours of walking, Kenny had to pick Karen up and hold her so she could go to sleep, he was tired himself but was use to not sleeping. He had suggested to Christophe that they should stop and just go to sleep, make a little fire. Of course they didn't but it didn't really matter since not long after Kenny had asked if they could do so, they came to the end of the forest and into the start of a new town.  
Kenny didn't really say anything until they were completely in the town. The completely deserted town. It was eerie, probably didn't help that it was nearly three in the morning. "Holy shit, dude." Kenny's deep blue eyes scanned each building they walked past. Nothing. There wasn't any movement of any kind besides them. It was silent. Kenny had a habit of walking around town when he couldn't sleep but there was a big difference there. There was cars from time to time, druggies and drunks, lights, just...life. There was nothing in this town. The blond shook his head with a huff, no point in making himself feel sick. "Whatever, this is seriously creeping me out, can we just find somewhere to stay for the night, babe?" He looked over at Christophe with a slightly pleading expression. "I can barely feel my arms or my legs right now."

He didn't argue when the others slowed to a comfortable walking pace. Instead he huffed shortly through his reddened nose in an attempt to catch his breath. Practice kept him from gasping out in pants but with a glance around the silence and snowy forest it was obvious that sound wouldn't be an issue. They were safe for now. Had escaped the clutches of this screwed up government without a hitch. For that he was pleased. 

For the next couple of hours he trudged along just behind Kenny on the right side. His frequent glances soon drifted into a stubborn glare at the ground below. Idly concentrating on ignoring the chill that had finally seeped through his coat. When Ken asked if they could stop for the night he refused, offering a dismissive grunt in response before trekking on by. He had a hunch that they were close..and soon enough his guy feeling was proven right when they reached the outskirts of a town.  
The military had been here too then? Christophe straightened with a new spark of alert coursing through his tense frame. So South Park hadn't been singled out as a target, they were fucking up every city. The brunet rest his palm against the handle of his shovel instinctively as they worked their way down the streets. Nothing..not a damn living thing was left here. The people had just been scooped up and vanished. Leaving a nauseating silence hanging very his head. It was deafening but even more so then that, unnerving. "Holy fucking shit." he grumbled in agreement. Sighing at the condition of a house as they passed it slowly. The front door had been busted in, leaving it splintering off it's hinges. As he squinted into the flickering light brightening up the inside he could see the tale tell signs of immense struggle. A forgotten red backpack lay in the front yard. Probably from a child. His skin crawled at the imagery creeping on from the edges of his morbid imagination. Blinking roughly Mole turned his attention back to Kenny. He looked, exhausted.."Oui, we can hunker down in any of these houses..seeing how they're all empty." Christophe pressed a hand firmly against his amour's shoulder blade, hard expression softening. He probably was freezing, boots and pants wet from snow. Nodding to a two story one down the way, satisfied with it's 'in tact' appearance. "It probably still has heat too..they all have power." he said this because the porch light was still on. To be honest..he was ready to fall into a warm bed right now. Curled up in a pile of blankets next to Kenny..erm and Karen, to just sleep his god forsaken life away. He hadn't slept much the past couple of days. Waiting for this disaster.

Kenny let out a small laugh, raising an eyebrow, "Hunker down? What are you, from Kentucky?" Well, two of the three of them were. His knees practically gave out right then and there when Christophe grabbed his shoulder. God, his knees were noodles right now, trembling with every step. Karen was thousand pounds by now. He looked at the house Christophe was talking about and nodded his head, mumbling, "Karen's gonna love waking up there." For the past few hours, Kenny had be slouched over but now he straightened up as a thought popped into his head. "Oh, um..." He gave Chris a slightly apologetic expression. "I'm gonna sleep with Karen tonight. I'm sure that house has at least two bedrooms and she's not good with new places...and after a night like this, she's probably really stressed. You don't mind, do you?" They still hung out practically every day (well, Kenny still came over and bugged the shit out of him practically every day.) but it'd been quite awhile since Kenny had slept over in the French household. "I hope the heat works, she's been shivering for hours now. I hope she doesn't get sick like usual...She gets sick pretty easy. Not that it's surprising, eating toaster waffles for dinner and nothing else besides what the school will give you isn't exactly good for your body." Kenny glared forward, walking up the steps of the house's porch slowly, forcing his legs to work. Actually, he was glad he managed to get away from his parents and bring Karen, he wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. But now that he thought about it, would staying in abandoned houses with his boyfriend and sister be better than going wherever the government was taking them?  
Kenny shook his head with a huff, trying to clear his head. He waited for the brunet to open the door then walked in and looked around. It was a nice house but it was too dark and Kenny was to tired to actually look at anything besides the stairs. He climbed the stairs slowly, almost falling nearly the top. Looking around the hall for a moment, he saw what was probably the master’s bedroom at the end of the hall so turned and went in the opposite direction of that room. He found the second room and walked in, it was the same size as Christophe's room had been. It was a mess, things thrown every which way. The dresser had all it's draws pulled out and on the floor to add to the mess. Kenny shrugged off the mess and walked to the twin sized bed, dropping Karen carefully onto it. He removed her jacket and shoes then tucked her in and left the room.  
"Hey Chris," The blond walked up to his special little (tall) Frenchie, giving another weak smile. He sat down where he stood and watched the dark haired boy, finally dropped the quilt from his arms. "Thanks for not freaking out about me bringing her. I was kinda worried that you were gonna say she was 'dead weight' or 'something to worry about' or something." Kenny was having trouble keeping his words clear, even more trouble keeping his eyes open. He was nothing short of exhausted.

He scowled almost instantly, eye twitching in temporary annoyance. Snorting he turned his head to the side, "Non! You know where I'm from..I've just been surrounded by you 'hick' people for to long." which was true. After he and his mother had move from France to Central America when he was ten they had steadily begun to change. His terms for things and even heavy accent started to lighten up after a while. Of course due to his constant use of the French language with his mother the tones and pronunciations stayed true. 

Christophe jumped his gaze back to the blonde when he staggered, flenching his fingers closed in Kenny's coat to keep him from completely falling. His appearance wasn't the only thing suffering apparently. A small part of the mercinary was aware of the fact that this had probably all been hard on both of then. Kenny nor the girl were use to running around the land for as long as he could. But the bigger part o his mind hadn't worried because the boy had kept up. Now though Mole could se le that he had stretched himself thin.  
He stayed hovering over mon amour, lest he weakened again.  
"Oui." he agreed simply, she was probably going to scurry about like a frantic finch bird tomorrow once she woke up and got a good look at the place. If her excited claims at his own house wasn't enough of a hint to go by. Yet a twinge of disgruntlement tugged at him again. What sort of home life did they lead? "No." he grumbled, shaking his head at the question ending Kenny's explanation. Luckily his cheeks were already a deep red from the cold. Kenny having brought up their sleeping habits giving him a rush of heat. The idea would be mourned. They hadn't exactly just, well.. laid together for a while. Being around eachother was different then being wrapped in each other while in sleep.. Uhn, I'm a damn sap.  
It was probably better this way though. For the fact that if she woke up alone, it'd probably create a commotion and second..while he was dead tired, he wasn't exactly sure when he'd be able to finally settle down. Christophe didn't like leaving himself vulnerable. "It'll be fine even without. Just bundle up with extra layers." he deadpanned, without any real malice however. "...eating anything at all will suffice in the end. She just needs to build immunity." he reached passed and pushed the door open to let him through first. Silently pondering his skills in reassurance. Truth was his game and to be honest it wasn't always the best route.  
While he trailed carefully behind Kenny he took in their surroundings. It looked like someone had left in a hurry. Stuff sat scattered about any surface it could of been set on and things were knocked over..end tables, chairs. Signs of definite struggle. Once they finally did get up stairs, the blonde picking a room to claim for now, he found that it was actually worse. Clothes and furniture had been pulled out into the hallway. Frowning with scorn he realized it had probably been thrown aside when looking for any residents who had probably been hiding. Against his better judgement, his mind toyed with the imagery of what had played out. What would of happene if this had been Kenny's house. If he had been the one to be jerked from the safety of his own room and dragged like trash down the halls kicking and screaming to be taken like the rest. 

He clenched his fists, crossing his arms and tucking them into his underarms. "What?" he hummed, turning to give the boy his attention again. Forcing a sort of, smirk into place to match his timid smile. After a lengthy moment he to sat down. "I'm not always an asshole." he faked hurt, fidgiting with a shoe lace. "She's important to you oui? You can't leave that behind." he couldn't of left Kenny behind. No matter how much was stacked against the idea. After Karen had given him that grin..he had decided to suck up his displeasure and make it work.

"Yeah, she's really the only part of my family I give two shits about. I mean, Kevin, our older brother, isn't terrible but when he's drunk he's about as fucking awful as my dad. They fought more than my mom and dad." Kenny was swaying now, his eyelids felt like someone had glued a hundred pounds on both of them. "Ya know," Kenny's 'real' voice began slipping into his words but he didn't really notice, "Karen's gonna real' happy ta look around this place. I don' know if you ever saw it 'r not, we lived in a lil' broken one story. We were one tv once, our parents were taken to jail and we have ta go to a fostor home..those bastards were crazy and we were sent back." He was about to say more was was cut off when the world went black. His peak was reached and he blacked on the floor, falling back limply to lay on the floor.

It was shitty, that they had a new thing in common only for it to be the sharing same in satisfying home life. This was one of those times that his skill in observing the details had failed. "Why didn't you ever say anything.." he growled a little. Ducking his head to watch the drifting boy sway in his spot. He was on the verge of unconsciousness that much was obvious. "So I could of done something." it was said quietly. What exactly could he of done other then show up and beat the shit out of all three of them? Or offer up his space to Kenny..(extend the invitation inevitably ) to his sister more often? Christophe lifted his gaze to focus tiredly on the others face, his frown shifting into a neutral line. Che, that god damn accent ~ probably without even realizing it too. Something about the sounds laced with Ken's voice made it pleasant. That..southern twist. He gave a surprised hiss when his boyfriend finally did fall backwards and collapse on the carpet. Leaning forwards onto his knees he pat the blondes cheeks. Asleep. Sighing softly he scooped Kenny's lithe form up. Shuffling slowly to tuck him in near his younger sibling. Shaking out the old quilt laying on the floor he covered him up shortly after. "Nhn..doesn't mater anymore - " he murmured softly to the other. "Your here with me now."

Pulling away he backed out of the room. Stepping tediously over the mess to begin his checks. One of many before the Mole would eventually feel comfortable to settle down.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter that Bri and I did together, the rest will just be me working on it.

Kenny woke up about nine, sitting up and stretched. There was a small amount of panic when he noticed he wasn't in his or anyone he knew's room but quickly relaxed when he remembered what happen. Well...he didn't relax just got tense for a different reason. He stood up and looked around, Christophe wasn't in the room with him and Karen was still sleeping. He looked down at her for a long moment before leaving the room and going to the master bedroom. There was his favourite man in the world. He sat on the floor and removed his boots then walked over and laid in the bed with the Frenchman, getting under the covers and curling into a ball. He wasn't going back to sleep, his mind wouldn't let him, he was just laying with him. Just relaxing.

His mind started drifting to different things. Mostly about survival. Eating and a place to stay wasn't going to be an issue...But Kenny had watched movies, he knew what happens after a while! The power. The power would stop and wouldn't come back on. That was an issue for heating but there was blankets. But after the heat, water usually went. That wasn't a bit deal to Karen or Kenny because they'd lived without running water for a very long time, that would probably only bother Christophe. But how long could Karen handle it? Kenny let out a whimper and snuggled into the bed more, his parka hood falling to cover his face.

It had taken the boy a couple of hours at least before he finally found himself tiredly unlacing his boots. Drooping lids hardly batting a lash in concern as he stepped out of his shoes, inevitably spilling the blades hidden there onto the carpet with a thud. Everything else he had on his person followed after. His bag, heavy coat, the damn shovel, that hammer which had been biting into his skin all night..

His mind was running a million miles a minute but his body could only manage to drag itself onto the mattress. Hands fumbling unsuccessfully at first to grab the corner of the comforter left behind. With a short huff he dropped onto his side and pulled it up to his ears. Shifting about on the lumpy surface until he found a comfortable spot Christophe whined. "This..is ridiculous." he slurred. There were so many things he should be doing right now..but he couldn't focus on a single task. The chaos in this situation, the weight was to much and he felt overwhelmed. There were no guide lines..no 'voice in the speakers' telling him what he was supposed to be doing and when. The Mole was only as organized as the person pulling the strings from the other side and he was alone. Was there anyone else who had escaped the clutches of the government? Did they have theories? What sort of enemy was he supposed to protect Kenny and his sister from anyways..

The frenchman sighed, the first syllables of a word mushing incoherently in response to the whimper that buggered him out of sleep. He felt like he'd just laid down, to be honest. Slithering a hand up Chris rubbed at his face groggily, "..que faites-vous, l'amour?" he prodded about the sheets until his fingers came across Kenny's coat. It was, extremely comfortable right now and he had a second mind to just go back to sleep. That in mind he sunk back into his spot, nuzzling his face into the blondes coat just to block out the light.

Though Kenny usually did, he didn't feel like responding in the same language. It wasn't just because how tired he was it was also because he didn't want to think about how to word the fucking language correctly. He rolled around so they were now facing each other. Christophe looked like he was already asleep again. Maybe he hadn't even woken up and had just asked what was wrong out of boyfriend instinct, either way it made kenny smile slightly. "Just thinking about stuff I shouldn't be thinking about." He kept his bottom arm tucked between their bodies while his other wrapped under Chris's upper arm. Even such a simple way to lay, one of them most likely dead asleep, calmed kenny down immensely. Even to the point that he felt like he could almost fall back asleep but didn't want to very much. His deep blue orbs scanned over Christophe's tanned face, it still had some dirt on it from the last time he had spent his whole day in it. He had scoffs and scars all over but they were all small, all from fights probably. Kenny knew what Christophe looked like but had never really looked to closely at him before. No real bad reason, they were just never face-to-face. One of them was always in a hole and when they actually got to sleep together it was night and Kenny's eyes weren't the best. Kenny smiled again and nuzzled closer to the other. It was nice waking up and laying in silence. Complete...silence. Kenny sat up slowly, frowning. He got up and went to the window, looking outside. Where had everyone gone? There was a dog rummaging in a trash can but besides that, you would think it's completely deserted. A chill went up his spin.

It was slow coming, the meek response he gave in reply to the words his subconscious didn't exactly understand but could vaguely hear. But he acknowledged regardless with a soft hum. Picking up on the fact that Kenny was /right there beside him/. Something he hadn't been when Christophe had first settled into this foreign bed. For this brief moment in time he felt like everything was normal. That the blonde had shown up at some point in the night at the Delorne residence. That they'd actually gotten to sleep by each other, a nice thought that was concrete within his drowsy mind once Ken had stopped shifting around..had his limb in a loose hold and was close enough that as he drifted off shortly, he could feel him an it was a relieving sort of feeling.

His dreams had never been pleasant ones. Full of past sins he had committed and harsh tones from people he had grown to despise over the years. Whenever his unconscious mind wasn't full of imagery it was always dark and bleak. Just nothing but silence and shadows, restlessness. Those were the more preferable ones though. If it was blank and featureless then Christophe didn't have to wake up in a cold sweat..flailing for a weapon to attack and enemy that no longer existed. Sometimes he wonder that, if he woke up in terror when the blonde or anyone else was nearby..would he strike? That was a worry he didn't have to waste the effort of thinking about however. As the chill in the empty spot McCormick had left started to disturb that perfect temperature Delorne woke once more. Lids heavily lifting with a tired squint, eyes coming into focus. "Geez.." he murmured, curling up he rubbed at his face for a second time. Working some awareness into his dead looking expression before taking a second look about the cluttered room. Looking for.."Ken..?" whom of which was hovering near the window. What was it? What were you looking at, someone or something?

Kenny stiffened at his name, turning to look at who had said it. Or mumbled it. He was trembling by then, his hands in tight fists and his eyes glazed over with water. He hated being alone. Well, he wasn't completely alone, no, but they were. They were the only people left from what he could see. The boy let out the faintest sniffle as he stepped away from the cursed window. "Chris..." He let out a whimper as he glanced out the window again, the dog was gone, then hurried back to the bed and sat down again. "There's no one out there..." His voice sounded almost hollow. Was he actually speaking? Or just thinking..."It's completely empty out there." His eyes drifted to the window yet again. "Wh-...where is everyone? How can the whole town be gone?" Kenny was shaking the bed now. He wasn't sure when but he had wrapped his arms around himself at some point, hugging tightly like it would help keep the salt water from running out of his eyes. He looked over to check that Christophe was actually awake now and not just talking in his sleep again. Good.

He had his arm lazily folded across his forehead, mouth thinning out flat and watching the blonde with growing worry when the boy gave him a glossy eyes look. Kenny appeared lost standing all the way over there, like a shaky kit that was facing the stairs for the first time without it's mother sort. Was he about to..cry? "Ken." he spoke a little louder this time. His partner was starting to make him anxious. The boy was obviously distressed. Christophe propped himself up on his elbows when he made the move to sit down. "Yea..there isn't.." he murmured hesitantly, pushing himself up completely at the near strangled tone Kenny had. He was shaking like a damn leaf. Crawling forwards the brunet sat himself just behind the other. Fidgeting for but a second, what did you say to let him know it was ok? When in actuality it wasn't. How did an entire town of human beings just up and vanish without direction? "They've just been, moved..they aren't gone." he offered softly, slipping his arms around Kenny's middle to pull him into a tight embrace. He didn't know how to answer because he didn't even know all the answers itself. Sighing quietly the taller nuzzled his nose into McCormick's shoulder. I'll be here, for you.

Kenny smiled lightly, leaning into Christophe. He didn't say anything for a while, not until he heard something moving in the other room. "Kare-bear, is that you?" He called, getting to his feet and rubbing his eyes, he had stopped trembling by then and his voice was back for the most part. He looked over to Christophe and smiled to tell him he was better then turned and went to the room Karen was in. She was standing at the edge of the bed when he came in, looking around silently. Kenny walked over and scooped her up in his arms, smiling warmly. "Good morning~" She smiled back at him and nuzzled into the pocket of his neck, obviously not quite awake yet. Kenny walked to the top of the stairs and glanced around, "Babe, we're going downstairs! I'm gonna start some breakfast!" Karen let out a gasp and moved back to grin at him, she loved his cooking. When their house actually had food (barely once a year) the blond would make a meal for the family. Kenny smiled back and hopped down the stairs and hurried to the kitchen, plopping his sister on the counter then going around to look for things he could use in the breakfast.

He didn't try to say anything else, only quietly breath while they sat together. He felt that he didn't have to once the other had slowly stopped his shaking and settled down. He spoke far better in action then in word. 

Christophe sighed, opening his eyes and reluctantly letting go when Kenny started to get up. Calling out for the kiddo that was probably just now waking up. The reminder that she was there snapped him back into the reality of the situation. They needed a solution. He didn't know where to start though. Watching the blonde make to leave he received the reassuring smile with a crooked grin of his own. Small but present. 

Once he was alone he dropped his face into his hands tiredly, muttering under his breath. He needed to reach out and get into contact with someone because right now his eyes and ears were blind and dumb to what was going on now. "Ok amour!" he called, waiting a few moments as the sounds of feet retreated died away. Confident they were already wondering the house the brunet stood and three off the blankets. Walking towards his things to begin the process of equipping them once more. With his shovel in place and secondary weapon tucked away he unzipped his stuffed duffle bag and dug through it's contents. "vous y êtes salope.." he pulled out a compact radio. Pulling open the plastic bags deal protecting the taller walked back to the window and opened it up, create a better signal. It was no bigger then a walkie talkie because that's exactly what it was. An industrial heavy duty thing that he and Gregory used on a multitude of times to keep in touch, listen to their targets channels and such. Putting the earbud into his right side he turned the piece of equipment on and started to twist the dial to the British bastards channel out of habit. He was confident the boy had made it out and knowing his tedious habit to stay a step ahead probably had some sort of info right? Christophe waited, staring dagger into the silent radio. There was nothing but white noise echoing back. Annoyed he tapped in the code they used for greeting eachother

...nothing. "Baise.." he growled, that idiot should of listened to his warnings. He'd be stupid to let himself get caught..but on second thought perhaps he'd let it happen? "Fou, il me l'aurait informé." disgruntled he fiddle with some of the other no named channels, trying to pick up any chatter. Nothing really phenomenal came through aside from a few shitty music stations and talk radio. Snorting Christophe kept it on the channel, clipping the piece of machinery to his belt and deciding to head down stairs to the kitchen.

Kenny already had out everything needed for making pancakes. Only a few people knew it but he was actually pretty handy in the kitchen and even wanted to get a masters in culinary arts in college. That dream's out the window. He was cracking a second egg and dropping it into a large bowl that already had flour, sugar, salt, and butter in it. Karen had never gotten the chance to watch Kenny cook before so just stood out of the way and watched with wide eyes. He turned and looked at Chris when he heard footsteps getting nearer, smiling brightly. He looked like he was no where near having a break down and had never been. "Hey babe, do you like pancakes?" He'd never really asked before and never prepared anything for him either. Strange. He looked forward again to discard the egg shell and picked up the liquid measuring cup, pouring in milk and quickly dumped it in then did the same with buttermilk. He picked up a whisk and held the bowl at an angel in his arm while he quickly beat it with his pitching arm. There's another thing Kenny didn't know about his 'lovable' boyfriend. He walked over to him curiously, still mixing the bowl, "Do you play any sports? You look like you'd be good at soccer. I play that. And baseball and football. And some basketball...And field hockey but that was never on a team, just for fun." Kenny had figured out a long time ago that there was no possible way he would get into college with money so had taken any sport related thing he could and did his best to be the best. It worked out pretty alright. According to the teachers, it was a solid enough plan, especially since being on the teams meant he had to have good grades and that was going to help his chances of college even more. Kenny's shoulders sagged and he pouted. "I took all those damn sports for college and I probably can't even go anymore. Stupid government." He walked back over to the counter and began adding the rest of the ingredients.

As soon as he passed through the door way into the kitchen area he could smell sugar. The hell was the guy making anyways? Taking a seat at the table he returned Ken's look with another soft smirk. He had only been awake for little over twenty minutes and he had managed to express so many..grins. It was odd..but maybe this situation was putting them all out of character. "Pancakes? Yea, actually." he admitted, "With, syrup." obnoxious amounts but he didn't say it. Instead he merely watched the other work. He never knew Kenny could cook and by the looks of it he could do it well. He raised his brows a bit with interest, he wished he had known earlier. How many one sided conversations could he of filled with throwing out the fact that he..could to. Not well of course, he didn't like to experiment much so he stuck with the same things but still. 

Christophe blinked out of his stupor at the question. "Che, I would of never took you for such a big ass jocky Ken." he smirked, sitting up in his seat. "Oui, not soccer but baseball when I was still a little shit...I, threw one of Gregory's spinning tops through a window." that had been his first experience with fucking blackmail. "The man that lived there told me he wouldn't tell my mother if I tossed for his game. I could hit better though." he felt pleased with himself for speaking so much and it showed on the almost smug grin he wore. One that faltered slightly at the mention of government. He needed to talk to the blonde about that. Mole glanced over at the quiet little one though. "Instead of going now you can go later..after we travel." a nice cover up.

Kenny glanced at Christophe with a smirk, "Does the big ol' mercenary have a sweet tooth~ I'll give you something sweet to suck on." Even with what happened only hours before, Kenny was incapable of dropping his pervish comments and jokes. It was only natural. It got a laugh from Karen at least. He pointed the batter-dripping whisk at Christophe with a puff of his cheeks. "Hey! I ain't no jock! I just know that if you live in a life like mine, you're not paying your way into college! It's literally impossible! Jocks are fucking bastards anyway, the lot of them at least." Stan was considered a jock but he was also a damn hippie, if that made any sense. Kenny set down the bowl and turned on the stove, pulling out a pan from under the sink and setting it on the burner. "You don't look like a baseball player, honestly. Might just have to play a match with you. That'd be fun." It'd be interesting, that's for sure. With Christophe's slightly short temper and Kenny's hot head, it wouldn't last long and probably wouldn't end pretty. Probably a lot of taunting from one of them to the other. "I bet you couldn't hit my pitch ta save your life." He put his hand above the pan to make sure it was hot then began pouring globs of batter one, three to fill the pan. He walked over to the cabinet beside the fridge (he had looked through all of the cabinets while getting things out so had a general idea of the set up already) and opened it. There was the syrup, powdered sugar, and peanut butter...on the top shelf. He stared for a moment before heaving himself up on the counter and pulling the things down, of course because nothing can go how Kenny would want it to, he slipped while trying to get off and fell on the floor, syrup and white powder exploding. Karen had taken to flipping the pancakes since she acknowledged the fact that her brother was a bit caught up at the moment. He quickly stood up, coughing slightly. "Mother fucker! Are you fucking shitting me?" He shouted, looking down at himself. Karen was unaffected by the language or volume, didn't even glance at the blond. /Covered/. The syrup bottle had managed to break open and cover his chest, arm, lap, and his entire right hand. The sugar was glued to the syrup, making him one sticky, sweet mess. He let out a growl and picked up the things, tossing them roughly on the counter now. God, his only jacket and now he could barely wear it.

His weary green hues blinked with surprise at the vulgar statement. He turned his head to the side with a snort, cheeks turning a red color he liked to think was from annoyance and not embarrassment. "So what if I do!" he hissed, glowering even when the youngest being in the kitchen laughed even. Fuck me, were all of the McCormicks capable of perversion? He pushed out of his chair, he needed a god damn drink of something. His mouth dried up considerably at the dirty thought..thoughts. Just as he reached for the fridge door he paused at the flick of a doughy whisk being pointed at him. Christophe wrinkled his nose at the threat of mess being splattered before looking up at the blonde attached to the tool. "Tsk, don't your 'sports' strap in a twist amour. It'll pinch." he taunted, specifically avoiding the word 'jock'. With his experience that class of students were fucking dicks. Bu then again Delorne had a problem with most people. "And you don't look like someone who would play soccer, baseball, basketball or football either." he snorted, but flinging open the refrigerator he couldn't help but smirk. Play a game, of baseball? He hadn't touched a bat since he was twelve but if his skills in swinging a shovel didn't earn him some sort of credit then they were blind. "Sure, it'll be fun I bet..because you'll be catching all the pitches I do hit." the boy scoffed, rolling his eyes before ducking out of sight to soft through the contents of the fridge for something. He glared at what he came across, not particularly impressed with really anything these people had. Bottles of water, some sort of berry juice ( grape he found with a bit of squinting ), and three bottles of fruity hard lemonade. "Great.." he murmured to himself, deciding on taking just chilled water he unscrewed the plastic cap and took a healthy gulp. He liked sugar but not sour. Sighing in relief at the coldness soothing his throat he lifting the bottle for another swallow..and choked. The loud thud caused him to swallow to early sending the water down the wrong pipe. "The..hell?!" he coughed, shooting up to glare at whichever of them was making the ruckus. It was Kenny of course, sprawled on the floor on a white cloud of settling sugar covered in sticky syrup and sounding positively pissed! Over all his infuriated tantrum dubbed with the fine coat of powder and sheen didn't come across as intimidating. To either of the brunet's apparently and in fact. Christophe found it, funny. He probably should of offered a hand right away...but instead he laughed. Hacking turning into a hearty chuckles as he pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head at the blonde. "Come here.." he breathed, "I'm sure..there's something you can wear, while we find a wash sweet cheeks!" he managed, calming a bit.

Kenny shot daggers at Christophe, if looks could kill, Kenny would have killed Christophe. His face had that 'don't fucking touch me' expression written all over it. He was red in the with rage at the moment. Karen looked over her shoulder and calmly said, "I wouldn't. His parka's really important to him, I'd suggest letting him calm down." Kenny whipped around and told her to shut her mouth then stormed upstairs, slamming the bedroom door shut that Karen and him had slept in. The child let out a small sigh, shaking her head. She put the pancakes on the plate Kenny had gotten down then poured more batter out into the pan. "He made it for his friend that he had a really big crush on but he rejected him and said the jacket probably had diseases on it. Just after, our parents lost their jobs. It's kinda the only thing he wears." That was the most she would probably ever say all together.

Just then, Kenny came stomping back with his parka, pants, and gloves in his hands. He was left in boxers in an old tattered T shirt. He chucked the sticky mess of clothing at Christophe and barked, "/You/ go find somewhere to clean them since it's /your/ fault they're dirty!" That was a habit Kenny was completely guilty of. He blamed people even when it wasn't their fault. It was only worse when he was angry. 

As expected, but then again not really, Kenny was positively furious. The color in the blondes his cheeks looked red enough to boil water in a few seconds and he retracted his hand because of it. Obviously finding that incident humorous wasn't the best thing that he could of done..but then again his humor in things in general had always kind of wayward. He wiped the back of his hand across his cheek, an action that covered the lingering up turn of his mouth. The brunet felt like that look was slowly starting to burn a hole into his fucking soul..what was left of it at least. "Ohn?" he grunted, flicking his green hues from his boyfriends face to the child's across the room. Who was still steadily watching over their breakfast, undisturbed even when the blonde turned on her to snap at her before disappearing from the kitchen all together to stomp his way up stairs and into their room with a loud slam. He lowered his brows into a flat, frustrated look. Now he was going to have to fix this. Somehow. "The parka?" he started, "What a god damn bitch, McCormick isn't some rodent with rabies." he snorted, Kenny had a reputation..and from the sounds of it he lived in a particularly poor part of South Park but to say the boys things were covered in disease? It was to late to waste anger on it but he mildly amused his mind with the image of beating the shit out of some of those kids. "Home life was hard..huh petit?" he hummed as an after thought just as Kenny returned looking just as red as he had when he ran upstairs.

Christophe blinked in mild surprise, struggling shortly to catch the sticky gross mess of clothing being tossed at him. Now his shirt was going to be nasty to..damn it. "Fine." he grunted, lifting his chin a bit as he walked past the other. "But it's not my fault you didn't ask for help." with that being said he paced through the living room and down the hallway looking for what could of been the wash room. With a few peeks into a couple of doors he managed to find a dark dank little room that was cluttered with junk..but the washing machine stood untampered with. Sighing with a short cough at the intensity of the sugary scent he stuffed the mess of clothing into the machine. Grumbling under his breath the whole time he then took off his radio and precious shovel, balancing them on the dryer. Items safe he took off his own top, leaving him in a black short sleeved under shirt. Dropping his messy clothing in alongside Ken's and a cap full of fruity soap Mole turned on the dial to small load and washed his hands under the water stream. Once he was satisfied he dropped the metal lid shut and hopped onto its top to sit and listen to to the radio station again. Popping in both of his earbuds now that there wasn't any other conversation he needed to listen to. He figured he'd let the blonde cool his jets until breakfast, then Chris would show up.

Kenny sat down at the table, huffing and puffing. He managed to calm down quickly and stand back up, rubbing his face. "Sorry, Karen, I didn't mean to yell at you." He walked over and gently kissed her cheek then disappeared in the direction that Christophe had gone. As the other had done, Kenny popped his head in the different rooms, stopping when he came to the one with a washer and someone on top of it. 

He was listening to....what was he doing? He entered the room fully and walked up in front of him, his cheeks were still red but it was from blushing now instead of anger. He really hated yelling at people but he hated apologising even more. "Hey babe," He reached up and pulled out one of Christophe's earbuds so he could hear him. "Um...Sorry...about that." He mumbled awkwardly, shifting slightly with his eyes down on the floor. "I shouldn't have yelled at you or Karen." God this was annoying. It was only Christophe but then again, Kenny had never really yelled at him and even when he did, it was for a pretty justified reason and not because he fell and got messy. And it was literally no one's fault but his own.

While he sat, staring idly at the plain wall in front of him the French boy chewed roughly on his cheek. Pinching until the taste of salt and copper tainted his tongue. An anxious sort of habit. The voices debating through his earbuds were on to something. They were waking up, people were noticing that something was up. Of course they only seemed aware of the fact that it was a new 'strain of illness' but the fact that they had mentioned the state and towns specifically meant they noticed. His brows furrowed, the man, seemingly the leader of the four in conversation on the show spoke up. Gaining the floor with the ridiculous notion that maybe..maybe someone out there was plotting something. Whatever theory that came out of his mouth next however was lost to Christophe. An earbud was tenderly pulled from his ear and he flenched in awareness when his eyes flickered out of their haze to meet Kenny's lovely blue hues. He loosened his grip on the mechanical equipment considerably, features softening. 

"Yea?" he hummed, the ratty blonde looked considerably calmer now. He was still pretty red in the face but he didn't mind the color, red look great on the dorks cheeks. "Tsk -" he clucked his tongue after a moment. Lifting to give the boys shoulder a reassuring pat that lingered. " 'S fine..I'm not bothered." because it was still pretty fucking funny, but he didn't say that. Lest he get shoved off the washing machine all together. He tried not to smirk about the memory either. "Your still sticky though Ken." he pointed out, lifting his thumb from the collar of Kenny's shirt and away from his skin.

Kenny let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, noticeably relaxing. He scrunched up his nose at Chris' last comment however, bringing his hand to his shoulder and winced. "Gross." He was about to pull his shirt off but hesitated, suddenly looking uneasy for a different reason. He was self-conscious. Yes, he was the town's whore but that didn't mean anyone ever saw him shirtless. If his partner wanted to have any sorts of fun, they had to be okay with his parka still being on. Actually, Kenny didn't even feel comfortable in his t-shirt. "I think you've caught on from what I said yesterday and what Karen might have said. I kinda lived in a shitty life..." And he pulled off his shirt. He was small and flat but it was just...wrong. His ribs poked out a bit more than healthy and his stomach was almost perfectly flat. It was due to the fact that he barely ate and had malnutrition. His stomach also a few had bruises across it, his back was worse, with many more. His parents hadn't always been abusive but after Kenny had punched a drunken Stuart in the face on night, that changed. And it was only to. Once Carol raised her hand to Karen while more intoxicated than usual and Kenny almost broke her arm. That made things even worse. But he didn't mind. Kevin had moved out at seventeen and Kenny knew they weren't gonna hurt Karen while he was there to be their punching bag so it was fine in his opinion.

Delorne quirked up an amused smirk then, pulling his hand away so Kenny could replace the spot with his own. "Maybe." he grunted, idly licking his thumb clean of the mess before wiping his hand on the rough cloth of his jeans. Syrup, tasted like syrup. It reminded him of the fact that he was indeed hungry..hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. Which hadn't been more then a simple peanut butter sandwich due to his eagerness to get out of the house and hit the field to 'excavate' the dirt with his muddy shovel. He blinked out of his thoughts as the blonde spoke, giving a slow nod. "Yea, rumor has me thinking..it might have been." there was a quiet, seriousness to his tone. Deep green hues dropping to take in a sight he hadn't ever been allowed to see as Kenny hesitantly removed his shirt. He made a disturbed, or maybe just surprised sound. Completely taking off and setting the radio aside to give the other his full attention. Christophe had always known that Kenny was a skinny little thing, more tall then he was filled out which even then hadn't been much to boast about. ( he was bit shorter then Tophe..okay, a lot shorter) But this? "...shit." he hissed, fingers reaching to feather out across his flat stomach. He was small..in the sense that he probably hadn't eaten regularly for years. But that wasn't what had his lips forming a frown or his jaw clenching up. Food could make him heathy but.."These?" the brunet was talking about his bruises. "Did they, hit you?" it was getting warm in here now. Fueled by a wave of anger that started to sit in his gut like hot water. They..it was vague but he was pretty sure the other knew who he was questioning. It made Christophe mad, but it always made him..disappointed. How had he never realized?

Kenny stiffened but didn't step away like he wanted too. He thought that he should probably see this, even if it didn't matter now. Kenny's parents were long gone. The blond had the feeling that if Chris had seen this before everything, he might actually try to kill Carol and Stuart. "Yeah..." He turned his head and looked away from the latter, feeling like he might pass out. His breath was becoming more forced from how tight his chest had become. "But it's okay...I mean, it's not /okay/ but it was okay. I'd rather it be me with all the bruises than someone else." He gently pushed Mole to the side and threw his shirt in then turned and headed out the door. "I could handle it just fine. Never really bothered me." With his back to Christophe, the darker and larger bruises showed off like neon lights in a dark room. "Come on, Karen's probably set the kitchen on fire by now..." Kenny walked to said room and ushered Karen out of the room and began doing the pancakes himself again.

He could feel the boys muscles tense underneath his feathering touch but the brunet didn't let it deter him at all. Green hues glaring in distaste at every new little discoloration or mark he found while his calloused fingers would brush along and press when he came across a swollen splotch. How could they /fathom/ striking such a boy like Kenny and find it warrant enough to do it again? Did they not realize how important he was? No..they obviously didn't see the value in preserving their own /son/. Christophe paused, his hands were shaking over violent urges that he could not indulge in. It was frustrating. He couldn't even grab the man that had hit Kenny and beat the shit out of him. He couldn't call that woman cruel names and he sure as hell couldn’t smirk at the satisfaction he could of felt when he looked into their faces while taking the blonde from that...hell hole. Christophe..deserved what treatment his mother gave him. He wasn't a saintly creature and he figured that his mother was the iron fucking hand of that bastard god meant to punish him for his life style. Kenny though? Kenny /did not/ deserve this. He didn't deserve to be thanked for all of his kindly efforts by going home and being thrown around like a sack of potatoes. The taller muttered incoherently under his breath, sighing deeply to calm the angered heat that was starting to flush his own skin. Damn it. God fucking damn it.."It's not ok." he grumbled lowly, "There shouldn't be bruises on anyone to begin with. They should, have kept their filthy hands to themselves." his accented words came out as roughly as the blondes own breath did. Thick, choppy. 

Reluctantly he moved. Sliding off the washing machine to stand beside it almost mechanically himself, moving only because he was forced to. His limbs felt stiff now, full of bitter findings. Christophe wanted to say more, wanted to ask him how he wasn't acting more..outraged or something. "Alright." he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Swallowing roughly at the darker patches he was given a view of when they left and trudged into the kitchen even. All he could do now about it..was take pride in the fact that they would NEVER have the chance to lay a finger on Ken again. Ever. Nor his little sister the taller added as an after thought when Karen shuffled by and into the living room leaving them alone with the pancakes. He had words to say, many. "Hey.." he started, nearly fumbling then at the sentence about to leave his mouth. The thought was foreign enough which is why his speech fell into a comfortable language. "Je suis désolé." for not picking up on it, or doing anything. You know?

Kenny had noticed Tophe's trembling hands and felt himself sink almost. He hated it. He told himself that the conversation had to be over quickly so he decided it was best to leave the room. Apparently it didn't work. He let out a slow sigh, trying to keep the trembling down. He could barely flip the pancakes now. He hated this. He hadn't planned on anyone knowing. Ever. It was just another McCormick secret, they were famous for christ sakes! No one in the town really bugged them so no one really knew what went on besides the drunkenness and drugs. No one knew about no water. No one knew how they really ate, when they did. No one, /no one/ knew about the beatings. And it was supposed to stay that way. "God dammit, Chris," he murmured, keeping his eyes on the golden brown pancake cooking at his hands. "Don't /apologise/ for something that has nothing to /do/ with you. You couldn't have, I don't even know, stopped it, or whatever you wish you could have. And even if you had found out before now, I would have said the same. 'I'm fine with it'. And I wouldn't have let you get involved." He put the now cooked pancakes on the plate of the pile of completed ones then poured in a new batch while continuing with, "I don't even know what you would have done.../They're/ my parents," He looked over his shoulder at Chris, "And /you/ are my boyfriend. I wouldn't have let you touch them." He looked back down at the food. "And if you would have, I would have kicked you out. They only did it while drunk...They always apologised..." He let out a small sigh as his body began to shake more. He hated talking about this. It was killing him.

It lingered fresh in his mind as they stood there in the kitchen, listening to pancake hiss in the hot pan. Christophe wasn't new to the hells that were so easily hidden behind locked doors, away from the prying eyes that could of either saved you..or got you killed. He had grown up with a woman that resented his very existence and it had never been easy. When he was little she was forced to care for him of course, but she never quite liked doing it. There were days that he went without eating..without contact and without being allowed to leave his room even because he would of 'scummed up the house' with his filthy presence and it hurt, made him scornful and confused but he accepted the fact. Yet there were those select few moments in his time growing up when he could recall a happier time. When he was able to answer the door for himself when people came to bugger his mother about his schooling she was relieved. After he could remember the way to the store, and learned how to vaguely count money she was pleased because he could bring food home for them. At the age of ten, when his father had come home and tried to raise a hand to his mother he could remember the very small flicker of gratitude when in her eyes when Chris had pushed between the two of them and kicked the man in the knees. It was a ridiculous affair and he was use to it. But picturing Kenny in the same sort of experience? It was wrong. The fury that bubbled up in his chest was hot and wild and he wanted nothing more then to just, tell those people how pathetic they were for doing such a thing. But just like himself, Kenny had learned to accept it. It was a crappy hand dealt by ass sucking god right? You could throw them all away and not play at all or just try to hang onto the game best you could. The Mole wrinkling his nose at the mention of God, growling shortly with a frustrated glare towards whatever lay in front of him. "Well, I felt like it should have." he murmured lowly while the other spoke, crossing his arms. He glanced up to meet the blondes stare when he turned, a brief look. There were many things he could contradict about these claims. Such as..if they apologized then why do it again? If he had managed to ram a fist into that mans face, he probably would of been 'kicked out' and straight into jail. If..if..if. But the shaky look Kenny was wearing kept him from bothering. Jerking a chair out from under the table he set down begrudgingly, seething for a moment. "Fine..we'll just, talk about something else." he decided. It was uncomfortable for the blonde obviously. "Like..whats going on."

Kenny let out a quiet, "Thank you," when Tophe decided on changing the subject. Not that the topic change made much sense. 'What's going on'...Did he seriously ask that? Seriously, Christophe? Kenny felt his uncomfortableness switching to irritability. He waited until the pancakes were flipped to respond. "Oh you know, the usual. The government ran down my town and every other one around, I have no idea where any of my friends or family are, my baby sister is terrified to fuckin' death, I'm in some stranger's house in some town that I've never been in before, my entire body aches, it's freezing, and my boyfriend is being a fucking air-headed dick at the moment." He let out a sharp huff as he looked over to glare at him again. Though, after a moment his face softened up a bit. "Sorry, I didn't mean that...I'm just...Stressed." He looked back at the pancakes. "Scared."

He sighed in response, calmly resting his cheek into his palm to watch the plate of pancakes steadily grow. "Welcome." Christophe grunted. This topic change wasn't going to be any 'brighter' then the one they were just on. But at least it wasn't as infuriating at the last. Even if he was..being yelled at again? The Mole scowled, flattening his expression into an unamused one throughout. He had expected to be vented at for starting up conversation in a shitty manner. He probably could of worded it better such as asking if the blonde wanted to know what was going on. Or something. The brunet quirked a brow at the frustrated stare he received, patiently waiting a moment to even bother responding. Which he glad he had because shortly after Kenny was muttering out apologies. "Now that that's set in stone." he snorted, letting any undertone of malice shift ito a smooth steady tone he continued, "I meant why all of this began mon amour..and I'll forgive you, this time ~"

And that set him over. Kenny dropped the spatula and turned around to glare straight up Christophe now. "Can you /stop/?! How can you be so damn calm right now?" He was doing his best not to shout so not to scare Karen but it was difficult. As he went through his rant, his moved his arms out and around. "Like, I understand this is normal for /you/! I know! You go to strange places, you do weird things, you kill people, you go against the government all the time but I've done things like that too! You wouldn't believe the type of childhood I had! I've been shot, I've been strangled, I've drowned, I've been to Peru, I've been to god knows where else, I've worked with the government for the strangest things! That was when I was nine, ten! That's about when you started your fucked up 'job', I know! But Christopher- Christophe, this is different! I never blinked an eye back then, I just went with it, like I'm sure you do, but right now? Right /now/. Chris, I am terrified! " He dropped his arms as his expression fell to that of a defeated one. "I know, Chris, I know that you might be use to these types of things, but please, don't act like it's okay. You know it's not, I know it's not, even Karen does, so don't pretend it is. It's not normal for towns to just disappear overnight." Kenny remembered that Christophe had had his little radio box in the laundry room. He'd bring it up once he wasn't red in the face. Hopefully Chris wouldn't be angry at Kenny for yelling at him, he didn't want to get in a fight. Not right now.

It may of been just a split second, but it was enough to set of a spark..which flared into a fire. With the sharp metal tang from the utensil being tossed his thoughtful eyes flashed into instinctive clarity, sharp and wild in wait for violent reactions that luckily..never came. Otherwise he may not have simply been standing when the boy started to sway his hands around in frustrated display. Chair screeching oddly by the backs of his knees when he flenched out of his spot. "What /am/ I supposed to be right now then?" he grunted, huffing to steel over his nerves at the mild scare he had received. His heart was rapidly flailing just as much as Kenny words were flying. Que dans les baise volantes? Christophe's clenched his jaw at the comparisons, it was a lot. A lot of things he once again hadn't known and it muddled up his mind. How had they had so many shitty similarities? The French boy hissed at the use of his full name and with white knuckled fists he shifted a few steps forwards. What do you want! What do I do? What! He didn't have any answers at all and it made him frustrated. Delorne seethed, biting the inside of his cheek with a sharp sting as he grasped at Kenny's shoulders. "We both had fucking sickening childhoods, blame the big bitch later but you need to understand that I make a /living/ off of this. I /have/ to keep my head or else I'm just not going to god damn have one at all." he growled lowly, there were numerous occasions from which he could account for this claim. Hesitate, loose your cool, cower and he could of very well had his throat sliced..stomach gutted, face blown to bits. Death. You didn't tease death with anything but stoicism. "After a while you learn not to acknowledge fear and follow commands. That's all it is McCormick..guidelines and protocols." he paused, his left arm swinging out to gesture vaguely at the issue they were both speaking of. "Right now? This? I don't have fucking shit and it makes me /anxious/, alright? People are disappearing, it's unnatural and it's damn fishy..and nobody knows anything but hunches..I don't know what I'm doing, and it's not ok." there, I admitted it. I'm not on top of 'my game' because I don't have a sturdy piece to even play with. Christophe sighed, dropping his arms away to stuff his hand within his own pockets. He didn't say anything else..not for a good breath or two. "Quarantine..this county is under Quarantine. There's some kind of..illness or superstition that has the dicks in office scared so your friends, family are probably in a facility somewhere. Being picked through for whatever it is that's been released into the population. That's all I have..at least for a few days. Until word leaks so we just have to wait."

Kenny had given a small flinch at the screech Christophe’s chair gave off when it was pushed away from him as he stood but he physically jumped and made a noticeable effort not to react differently when his shoulder was grabbed. His hands clenched into tight fists and he dropped his head, his eyes squeezed tight. He stayed stiff as stone as the Frenchman went off at him. He didn’t make a sound the entire time. He hadn’t even heard the last bits of what he said, his mind had stayed on one certain thing he said. ‘you need to understand that I make a living off of this.’. That’s what he said. He actually said it. Kenny had never approved of Christophe’s workline and he’d told him before. He’d told him how uncomfortable it made him. How worried he became every time he was gone. And he was go and say it was a living? Ken clenched and unclenched his jaw until Chris was done saying whatever he was saying. “Don’t.” He finally said in a low tone, not looking up from the ground, he didn’t even open his eyes yet. “Don’t call it a living. What you do is not living. It’s not a life.” Kenny opened his eyes and looked up at Christophe, his eyebrows knitted together now. “I’m done talking about this, I’m not talking to you right now, go tell Karen that breakfast is ready.” His voice began shaking but he was still stiff, his eyes not leaving Christophe’s. He couldn’t remember a time that he had been this angry before around the other but to have it pointed to him? He never thought it’d happen. He just didn’t. He blamed everything that had happened in the past two days. Usually they just talked to each other, occasionally got in little fights but neither were ever more than frustrated. 

For a minute, he wondered if Kenny had even been paying attention at all. The way he had ducked his head down to the point that Christophe couldn't see much past his bangs throughout led him to briefly believe he hadn't listened at all to his admittance..and it was frustrating. But not hardly as much as that physical flench the blonde gave when he had just /touched/ him. It struck him with a sense of, guilt. Like he'd committed a god damn crime of sorts. Of course all of this didn't amount to anything when compared to the sudden chill that struck his chest like a steel bullet. The taller's stance straightened considerably yet he just managed to keep his expression solemn, blank almost. "Fine." he stated with a bite. There were a million things he wanted to say. Starting with a 'I know you don't like it! You've made it awfully clear to me before that your not a fan of my line of 'work'. But morals don't turn the world round..money does. I don't have a life I guess, because I wasn't even supposed to have been born in the first place..but I have a stake in this world still so bite it'. Yet he swallowed the bitter debate like a sour dose of medication and turned on his heel to do as he was told. He wasn't out to break Kenny..he just wanted to, well..

Christophe flicked his green hues to the girl sitting in the living room. "Breakfast, peu jeune." he informed her, nodding his head towards the kitchen as he passed by Karen. Heading for the front door with an extended hand to pull the wooden barrier open. He needed to think. No damn it he just wanted to burry away the odd conversation by hefting clumps of dirt. With that in mind he stepped out onto the front porch and jerked the door closed with a thud.

Kenny turned and put the remained pancakes on the plate then turned off the stove and put the pan on the back burner. He got out three plates, three forks, and three knives. After putting three pancakes on one and two on the other, he smearing peanut butter on all five then picked up two forks and knives and went over to the table to greet Karen with a warm smile. It wasn’t very convincing though, she asked what had happened. Kenny said, “We’re not at an understanding right now,” and that was it. They started eating and acting like everything was fine. Kenny made his usual jokes and Karen giggled at them. 

About half an hour later, Kenny came outside and walked up to Christophe with a plate in hand. There was three pancakes on it with all of the syrup that hadn’t came out of the bottle when it exploded, which was just over drowning them, and had a bit of powdered sugar powdered over top to make it look pretty. “Hey, Karen and I are done eating...Your pancakes got kinda cold so I heated them up then added your syrup and sugar. I wasn’t sure how much was too much but there’s still some in the kitchen so you can just throw these away if it is too much.” He was already shivering. Going outside in your boxers in the mountains isn’t really the smartest thing you can do. 

Christophe hadn't gone far, settling for a spot on the left side of the yard after shoveling snow aside and testing the earth there. Sending the metal end into the dirt with a thunk he pushed it through and lifted, neatly dumping the haul to the side before repeating. It was a robotic sort of process, a routine that was as second nature as breathing and it didn't require a thought at all for his limbs to move properly. Maybe that was why it was so therapeutic for the French boy. If he didn't have to think then he didn't have to debate with himself about any unsavory topics. 

That's how it worked..that's why he dug so much. Things that bothered him were shoveled aside along with the icy dirt beneath his feet and eventually he'd find himself blinking out of his stupor with a relatively clear mind..standing in a hole. Maybe, he didn't have much of an existence at all? Nothing past A gun for hire, a filthy weapon wielded by those who had the money to earn it's attention. That's what he was good at however, stirring up more scum from the gummy muck called humanity and if you could get paid for it and support yourself then wasn't that considered a living? People working at that shit corner store made a living..your teacher makes a living..hell the government rolls in our money and that's living? I do have a purpose god damn it..

Of course half an hour or so later though and he was only standing. His hands crossed over the handle of his shovel and his chin resting upon the tops. Eyes closed and brows scrunched while he just, listened. It was fucking quiet. Shouldn't there be..birds? Abandoned dogs, stray cats? People? His tense shoulders lifted, and sagged as he heaved. Shit this was messed up. "Nhn." he grunted in acknowledgement, but didn't readily move to turn around when he heard the front door open and Kenny's foot falls get close. It was incredibly loud. "Ok -" he murmured flatly, stomach clenching. It smelled really good and the mentioning of sugar even further reminded him of how hungry he was. " - Kenny, I'm tired.." he slurred, "I know you don' like somethings, and I don' like somethings..but I'm done arguing, alright..it's exhausting." true, his emotional reel was spinning like a lottery roll and he was tired of deciphering them all. Christophe straightened, stretching his limbs with a couple of pops before turning around to face the blonde. He reached out to support the plate with his own palm, "You should probably look for something warm to wear." he awkwardly tapped his forehead against Kenny's in gratitude.

Kenny smiled softly and shook his head. “Chris, we’re not arguing anymore,” He pressed his forehead to Christophe’s as he spoke in a calm tone. “I just needed to calm down a bit, I’m sorry.” He raised himself up on his toes enough to press their lips together for a few seconds and murmured a quiet, “Je t’aime, n’oublie pas,” Before stepping away from him. “Come on, Karen’s waiting for us.” He took Belle (the shovel) from Christophe’s hand and went back inside. He was silently grateful for Chris saying he didn’t want to fight, Kenny didn’t think he’d be able to stand as well as he had in the kitchen. He was wearing thin already and he didn’t need more fighting. The small brunette girl smiled from the couch when Kenny entered. “Karen, I’ll be right back, I have to go get into some new clothes.” She nodded and watched him disappear up the stairs then looked back at the door to see if the Frenchman had followed. 

The french boy allowed a tired smile, quirked up at the corner softly. The defensive prickle that buzzed around his consciousness softened into an eased state, Kenny was just as finished as he was. Thin and worn. "Good..I don't want to anymore, not with you Ken." he muttered steadily, briefly closing his eyes when they stayed in touch. Everything was crazy and wrong right now. Patience is what he would need, and understanding when it came to the blondes troubled mind. "Just keep breathing and don't worry so much.." he assured, the words muffling themselves pleasantly against the others kiss. He sometimes forgot how much shorter McCormick was~ "Je ne vais pas l'oublier notre amour.." he cooed, blinking his tired gaze open once they broke apart. Nodding slowly in mundane agreement Mole let his shovel go in favor of holding the warm plate in his calloused grasp and following the other onto the porch. The taller turned to glance over his shoulder shortly, don't worry..because I'll fix this somehow..or try amour. That in mind he stepped back into the house and closed the door behind him with a click of the lock. Leaning back against the surface to slide until he had plopped onto the ground with a thunk, buckles clinking. Christophe flicked an acknowledging and awkward glance at Karen, forking the sugary platter while he waited for Kenny's return. He took a healthy bite.

Kenny managed to find clothes that not only matched but fit...with a belt. A pair skinny jeans that were light blue with pre-worn out knees, a black leather belt, and a burgundy Zoo York shirt. He hopped down the stairs and plopped down on the floor to make a triangle of the three of them. “So...Karen,” His deep blue eyes looked to her softer ones, “How’s school? How did you do on your math test the other day?” Karen shifted awkwardly and quickly averted her gaze to the now amazingly interesting wall. “/Karen/.” Kenny warned, lowering his eyebrows. 

“I...may...have gotten...twenty-two out of thirty…” She mumbled, rubbing the side of her neck. She practically sank into the couch as Kenny hopped up and glared at her. 

“Karen! That’s a seventy-three percent! A C! A /C/, Karen! You’re good at math, how could you get such a shitty grade? That means your math grade as dropped to a seventy-nine or eighty! That doesn’t look good on a report card!” Kenny crossed his arms over his chest, his slightly rounded hip out to the side now. 

“I know, Kenny, I know. I’m sorry..There were two open-ended questioned and they were confusing.” She was still mumbling quietly, her eyes still glued to the wall. It was probably the most interesting thing in the entire planet as of right now. “And I was having trouble multiplying since it had bigger numbers than I’m use to.”

“Karen, you’re in sixth grade math for a reason, you can’t just go and get a C on a /test/!” Kenny went blank when he remembered Christophe was still in the room but quickly glared and rounded him, throwing his arm out to point at him. “Can you believe this, she failed a test!” Karen mumbled something, making Kenny turned back and spit out, “/What/?”

“ACIsn’tFailingSixtyFiveAndLowerIsFailing,” She blurted out quickly. The blonde glared at her for a bit longer before letting out a sharp breath and sitting back on the floor and took to glaring at his lap. 

He hadn't really attempted to strike a conversation with the kiddo, more then content to fill the awkward silence by eating steadily through his sugar slathered breakfast. She was a sweet one he could admit..but he couldn't think of anything positive to bother her time with so he waited for Kenny. Who returned with an extra bounce to his step wearing matching clothes that looked like they fit. 

Christophe snorted, zoo york. That was the popular brand right now yea? Ze BeBe Stevan's had it for a while..if not some of the other boys who he kept the occasional eye on. He decided not to bugger Kenny about it, amused with the fact that blue 'skinny' jeans it damn nice on him. Had he ever worn the form fitting pants before?

The conversation bubbled loudly over the Frenchman as he sat slowly working his fork around through the syrup. A flat, thoughtful expression on his features the entire time as he recalled. No? His green eyes flicked up to Kenny's face ( and not legs ) when he was spoken to directly. "Nhn.." he grunted, shrugging slightly. At this rate in the game school may be canceled for a good long while. He didn't know how long this quarantine would last therefor any normal day activities could all but cease. Che, so much for filling his gaps in paychecks with an /actual/ job.  
"Shit." Christophe started, he really didn't want to speak at all. There was anger in the air and he didn't want to delve into the emotion again. "According to your 'grading' system it is..still passing oui?" he hummed idly around his fork, wiggling the metal utensil back and forth by with his teeth before removing it to point at both of the McCormick's. "Besides, you should be tickled fucking silly that you were both able to go to school at all as a child. I was taught shit at home."

Kenny grumbled something under his breath and looked over at Tophe. “Not our fault your mother doesn’t want her son to go to college...Thanks for backing me up, you’d make a great dad, Chris.” He sighed softly and shook his head, “Right, no..fighting. Well, it’s already getting a bit later than usual, I need to get started on my morning shit.” He got to his feet and hopped upstairs, returning shortly after with an old looking iPod and a little iHome speaker. “Hey Karen, look, I found a speaker for the music, isn’t that nice for a change?” Karen looked back at him and smiled brightly, hopping up to run over to him. “How about you pick the playlist for today, one through five.”

“Three!” She chirped, following Kenny as he walked over to the little coffee table and set up the speaker and iPod.

“I don’t know what you do in the mornings, babe, but…” Kenny paused and waited for the first song to load. Imagine Dragons - On Top Of The World began playing through the speakers cleanly. “Karen and I have a little routine thing. Well, Karen just helps me, she doesn’t really do anything.” He laughed when he received a small punch to the side. He stepped away from the table and got down on the floor in push up position. Karen was quick to hop down on his back. 

Kenny did his push ups rather quickly, quietly muttering the lyrics to himself. When the chorus would begin, Karen would step off and he’d switch to one arm, the other would line up with his side. Once the chorus was over, Karen would sit back down and Kenny would go back to two hands. Each chorus, Ken used the other hand. Nearly the end of the song, when it’s the chorus simply repeating itself, Karen stood beside him and he switched hands each time it restarted. The next song to play was I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic! At the Disco. Kenny rolled onto his back and brought his knees up. Karen went to his feet and held his ankles, smiling brightly at him. As with the previous song, he muttered along with the lyrics and went with the beat. For this song, he did simple curl ups for the majority and switched to crutches for the chorus.

Christophe had glared at him for the retort about his mother then down at his pancakes with heated cheeks at the mention of being a father. “Hm?” He looked up at Kenny when the music started and watched with a small smirk, enjoying the scene. He didn’t know that Kenny did any of the sort like this but then again, he didn’t know he did so many sports so it wasn’t to entirely surprising. After a little while, he got to his feet and excused himself, going to the kitchen. All the used dishes were set up in few small piles inside the sink. Glancing out the doorway, he chewed his cheek for a moment then turned the water on warm and began cleaning the dishes. Once that was over, he went back outside to continue his digging while Kenny continued the routine he had with his little sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Que faites-vous, l'amour? - What is it, love?  
> Vous y êtes salope - You're a bitch  
> Baise - Fuck  
> Fou, il me l'aurait informé - Crazy, he would have informed me  
> Je suis désolé - I'm sorry  
> Que dans les baise volantes? - What even in the flying fuck?  
> Je t’aime, n’oublie pas - I love you, don't forget that  
> Je ne vais pas l'oublier notre amour - I won't forget our love

**Author's Note:**

> French translations:  
> Nom de Dieu - For god sakes  
> Nom de Dieu, c’est fou - For god sakes, this is crazy  
> (Mon) Amour - (My) Love  
> (Bonjour) petite - (Hello) little girl (Side note, she constantly says "petit" instead of "petite" but that would be little boy, so-)  
> Peu jeune - Little girl  
> Non - No  
> Oui - Yes


End file.
